What is Fair Trade Part II- Who OWNS Fair Trade?

by Shayna Harris

Published March 27, 2009 @ 03:01PM PT

Thanks for your thoughtful replies to last week's entry, What is Fair Trade.  To be honest, the range of perspectives represented via your comments have left me a little bit more confused.  Is Fair Trade a movement?  Is it a market?  A certification? A brand?  I wonder if it can it be all of these things in a meaningful and effective way....

All agreed that Fair Trade could be a powerful market-based tool for change, but then one commented that, "as a mechanism to provide a living for American retailers in America, it fails because it's not market-driven."  Some expressed that certification is an important tool to further Fair Trade, but it is merely one amongst many in the toolbox.  And although certification is just one tool, many question the validity of those who claim to be ‘Fair Trade' without some sort of consumer guarantee.

Some of you referred to Fair Trade as an evolution from harmful and outdated economic theories, and others pushed farther, asserting that "fair trade is a people's movement for change."

On a very related note, I was listening to a podcast of a panel called Who Owns Fair Trade (thanks to fellow Fair Trade blogger Jackie deCarlo).  I was hoping that this panel, hosted by London School of Economics and Trading Visions, would indeed lead me to the owners of Fair Trade and I could just ask them the very definition of what this is all about.  If only it was so simple.

The podcast features five prominent and diverse Fair Trade actors from three different continents, representing a wide, wide range of opinions within the Fair Trade world.  So who owns Fair Trade?

Katie Safford, a sustainability consultant at Price Waterhouse Cooper, takes the position that Fair Trade is two things - a movement, and a powerful consumer brand.  She argues that the shareholders of Fair Trade, its owners, are the Fair Trade businesses (from farmer or artisan to processor to sales outlet).  And that NGOs are mere analysts who can influence the business owners of Fair Trade.

Katie further asserts that Fair Trade must be big business friendly, especially in times of economic crisis, so that these risk adverse businesses don't divest from Fair Trade.

This viewpoint is refuted by Fair Trade business owner Kate Sebag, who says that Fair Trade can be owned by any, from Tesco's supermarket to the local primary school, from Ben & Jerry's to a tiny Scottish village. "So long as you obey the rules, you can buy into Fair Trade... but the question we should ask ourselves is, are the rules tough enough?"  She says that every owner interprets Fair Trade with different meanings.

Kate challenges the collective owners, the standard setters of Fair Trade, to be tougher so that the rules of the game do not squeeze farmers and artisans even during times of economic crisis.

This raises just the dichotomy or ‘multi-chotomy' of opinion around the core question of who ‘owns' Fair Trade.  Can be Fair Trade really be ‘owned' by any?
Longtime Fair Trader pioneer Pauline Tiffen says NO!, Fair Trade can not be owned. It is an idea.  A concept.  It evolves and is constantly being redefined. We can't own it.  And redefinition, uncertainty, and plurality of interpretation is important, because it allows for ‘more jostling' so that we can push Fair Traders to do more and deepen their integrity.

So it comes back to us, as Fair Trade supporters and consumers. We can ‘own' Fair Trade products, but can we ‘own' Fair Trade?   The market, the brand, or the movement? And if there are no defined owners, who defines Fair Trade?  Maybe it's simply each and every one of us.

Dear readers, I leave these questions to you to work out over the next week.

Listen to the podcast! And then share your opinion here.

[photo: www.monmouthshiregreenweb.co.uk]

What is Fair Trade?

by Shayna Harris

Published March 18, 2009 @ 02:26PM PT

What is Fair Trade?  This is a question that I pose to you, readers.

Some envision Fair Trade as an economy based on partnerships which honor ‘dialogue, transparency, and respect.’  Others view Fair Trade as a certification and business auditing system which guarantees a minimum price paid to farmers for products sold in the US.  For some, Fair Trade is rooted in environmental and social values.  George Bush frequently called for ‘free and fair trade abroad’ – referring to unfettered open markets based on no social or environmental values at all.

As an alternative economic concept, Fair Trade is sometimes related to the concepts of the solidarity economy, ethical trade, and green consumerism. Some see Fair Trade as a reformist concept, and others as a revolutionary one.

Some of us don't even know whether the term should be capitalized (Fair Trade), un-capitalized (fair trade), or even trademarked (as in Fair Trade Certified).

This weekly guest blog will be a place to explore all of these ideas, with the general aim at promoting ‘dialogue, transparency, and respect’ among a community that cares about poverty and trade, the link between global and local economies, and how we can work together to create a more just & humane world.

So again, I pose this question - what is Fair Trade to you?  Leave a comment this week, and we'll continue to explore together in next Wednesday's edition.

More Thoughts on the Recent Starbucks Decision

by Shayna Harris

Published November 03, 2008 @ 08:42AM PT

Editor's Note: Since last week's announcement of Starbucks' recent Fair Trade decision, the Fair Trade movement is still buzzing about it. Guest blogger, Shayna Harris offers her take on it.

As I read the news about the Starbucks, Transfair, and FLO announcement from down here in rural Brazil, I'm hopeful, and yet reminded daily that Fair Trade is a continually evolving process.

Indeed the announcement about Starbucks' increased commitment to purchasing Fair Trade Certified beans is promising. During my time as Oxfam America's Coffee Program Organizer, I visited coffee farms & coffee trade shows, and had the chance to meet family farmers from Ethiopia to Nicaragua to East Timor. While each context presents its own challenges, farmers always told me that their biggest challenge was accessing markets that paid a fair and stable price, and that while Fair Trade did open up markets, because of good old supply and demand farmers still had problems selling all of their beans on the Fair Trade market. Which meant that a good number of their beans were sold at conventional prices, despite meeting Fair Trade criteria.  There is absolutely an excess of Fair Trade Certified beans, and that access to these specialty markets are in high need for Fair Trade farmers. In this regard, considering pure coffee supply issues, the Starbucks announcement is exciting.

However, Fair Trade is not finite; it's a continuum. Signing onto Fair Trade, and then committing to higher volumes, are just steps in the continual process of becoming 'fairer traders,' righting the faults in our global food & trade system. As activists and/or consumers we can celebrate Starbucks' announcement, which comes after years of encouraging the company to do more & to do better, and we can also remain active to continue to encourage companies to strive towards totally transparency and fairness in their supply chain. There are Fair Trade industry leaders who set a strong example, who are continually striving to evolve as 100% Fair Traders…. companies like the members of Cooperative Coffees, Equal Exchange, Divine Chocolate and Oke USA's banana project. These companies maintain strong relationships in farming communities and are continually challenging themselves to co-create stronger, fairer trade standards.

This is where our power as consumers lies.  We have to power to chose to buy our products from companies that do truly maintain their "Commitment to Origins," those that continue to show leadership at evolution along the continuum of Fair Trade.  What would a next step for a company like Starbucks be, after an announcement to reinforce a commitment to Fair Trade? Well, it could be to encourage transparency and accountability in Starbucks' transactions, so that we know exactly how much Starbucks is actually paying directly to farmers per pound of coffee (Fair Trade Certified or not), how much money is going into social and environmental projects, and what kind of financial impact this is having at coffee origin; the same kind of accountability that we demand from coffee farmers who are involved in the Fair Trade Certification system, and that some leading mission-based, 100% Fair Trade companies already report online (see http://www.coffeepath.org/).

Furthermore, while guaranteeing a price to farmers in unstable commodity markets like coffee is as important for a farmer's income today as it is in helping them plan for the future, Fair Trade goes so much beyond this price.  It truly is about partnerships and trading relationships.  Most often what I see is that the difference that Fair Trade makes is not merely based in the price, but moreso in community-implemented development projects, in access to knowledge, information, and trainings that farmers receive, in farmers' leveraging of collective power via cooperatives and associations, in access to credit and long-term contracts, and in the links to global networks of NGOs, student organizations, government programs.

As I currently conduct research on agroecological, fair trade relationships here in northeastern Brazil, I am finding that these same factors are important to meaningful, impactful, and sustained community development, even at the very local level of trade at the weekly farmers market here in Umarizal, Rio Grande do Norte. My friend Eliane who participates in an all-female, community garden project tells me that it's not just the price that's important for her, it's the growing self-confidence and validation that she feels as she and other women sell their healthy, chemical-free products to the community. She tells me that, "this gives me the courage to keep farming, despite the challenges. If we work together, if we build direct relationships with consumers, we only have room to improve our collective future."

This is where the transformative power of Fair Trade lies; the Starbucks-Transfair-FLO announcement is a promising beginning. As consumers and activists continue to encourage positive social and environmental innovations in the marketplace, we have a lot to celebrate, and yet a lot of work ahead of us!